The Treasury is looking for a new head of the Public Private Partnerships (PPP) Unit to shepherd Adani-type deals as Kenya seeks private money to build infrastructure.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) on Tuesday put out a notice seeking to replace Christopher Kirigua who took an envoy’s position in Washington DC after being in the job for four-years.
The position is critical in shepherding the so-called PPPs that Kenya is hinging on to finance the construction of highways and other infrastructure after public debt ballooned.
Under PPP deals, private financiers like India’s billionaire Gautam Adani build roads and recoup their investments through avenues such as tolling.
“Interested and qualified persons are required to make their applications online through the commission’s website or jobs portal so as to reach the Commission on or before December 24 2024,” the PSC said in a notice.
Top of the list of the PPP unit is guiding the search for an investor to upgrade Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) for an estimated Sh260 billion after dropping a proposal by Adani to lease the facility for 30 years.
President William Ruto on November 21 ordered the cancellation of a procurement process for the JKIA deal and the construction of power transmission lines after group founder Gautam was indicted in the United States for allegedly paying about $265 million (Sh34.2 billion) in bribes to Indian government officials.
Mr Kirigua recently left for Washington DC to take up his new role as the deputy chief of mission at the Kenyan embassy eight months after his redeployment by President Ruto.
The career investment banker told Senators he was not satisfied with the terms he was given for his job, which is why he was yet to take up his new role in Washington DC.
Mr Kirigua’s role has come under sharp focus in the aftermath of the JKIA’s $2.047 billion (Sh264.7 billion) proposal by the infrastructure-focused company owned by Mr Gautam, India’s second-richest man.
The government is banking on the private investors to raise Sh1.93 trillion to fund infrastructure projects under the PPP framework in five years (2023-2027).
About 70 percent of the private investor funding in PPP projects is through bank loans while 30 percent is through equity.
The Kenya Kwanza administration is banking on private sector investors to help deliver on a Sh7.78 trillion spending plan for infrastructure development over a five-year period (2023-2027), highlighting the on-going reforms at the Treasury’s PPP Unit Public aimed at enhancing the pace of private capital mobilisation.
The government through its fourth medium term plan (2023-27), which says it expects to raise Sh1.93 trillion from private investors to fund infrastructure projects under the PPP arrangement.
The ambitious revenue forecast from the private investors has seen the government prioritise reforms at the PPP Unit that is key to the mobilisation of these private sector resources.
The government expects to focus on public infrastructure with a high potential for generating revenue, such as expansion of the JKIA, development of ports, and geothermal exploration and development.
Data from the Treasury’s PPP Unit, however, shows that since the commencement of the programme in 2013 only Sh136.2 billion has been mobilised in the form of private capital investments. Of this amount, about Sh46 billion was raised during the 2022-23 fiscal year for five PPP projects.
These projects include the 35MW Sosian Menengai Geothermal, the 35MW Quantum Menengai Geothermal project, the Galana- Gulalu Food Security Project, the Tana Delta Integrated Project and the Lot 32 of Road Annuity Programme.
